• Most people don’t have to pay a premium for Medicare Part A because they or a spouse paid Medicare taxes while working in the United States. If you don’t automatically get premium-free Part A, you may still be able to enroll, and pay a premium.

On March 29th, 2012, according to the California Department of Child Support Services, the records of more than 800,000 individuals may have been lost by their service providers IBM and, ironically by way of their blog post, Iron Mountain. The statement by DCSS indicates that storage devices used for data backups cannot be found, and there ultimate whereabouts are unknown. The data fields included on the lost devices include a great deal of critical information including: Names, addresses, Social Security Numbers, drivers license numbers, names of health insurance providers, and employment information.

The data loss event should be specially noted because of the strict data protection and breach notification requirements in the State of California such as Cal. Civ. Code §§ 56.06, 1785.11.2, 1798.29, 1798.82.

This loss of backup devices underscores the critical importance of encrypting backup devices including tapes and hard drives.